If It Seems Someone Is Out To Get You, They Are
by Demon Flame
Summary: Companion Story to Rogue's Rules and repost of old story. Rogue never went to Bayville after her mutation manifested. Instead the next time she is seen is when she is rescued from Area 51 after mutants are revealed to the world.
1. Chapter 1

Rogues eyes fluttered open as she heard the voices of several people close by to her. For one horrible moment she thought that she had gone blind when she realized that wherever she was, the lights were off. She could hear the steady beep of a heart machine next to the hospital bed she was on. She briefly wondered why she was on a comfy hospital bed when every time before the scientists had put her on a cold metal slab. She began to squirm a little to see if her restraints were loose enough for her to attempt an escape. But she discovered she wasn't tied down at all.

Where was she? The scientists surely wouldn't have left her free like that. She tried to sit up but was too weak and was soon out of breath. She also found that she was sore all over, as though she hadn't used her muscles in weeks. She wanted so bad to move but she couldn't muster the strength. She let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. She needed a plan. Maybe she could pretend to still be comatose until she could run away?

"I'm afraid that won't work Rogue." Said a calm male voice.

Rogue sucked in a deep breath ready to scream, but found her throat dry and sore. "Do not be afraid, I am a friend." He said in a soothing tone of voice and she peeked her eyes open again.

Rogue felt the fear ebb away but not completely, she had seen too much to trust someone by their voice alone. "Who are ya?" She croaked. She needed water.

"I'm like you, in fact, I tried to contact you when your powers first manifested." He said.

She took a good look at him. The room was still dark but she could make out his features now that her eyes had time to adjust. He was sitting in a wheel chair wearing a business suite with a shaved head. He was projecting an aura of calm with soft facial expressions and earnest eyes.

She had never met this man once in her life. Though she got the vague feeling from some of her psyches that they recognized her.

"Ah don't remember ya." She told him. Could he be with that group of lunatics that chased her all over Caldecott?

"You probably wouldn't, but you would remember Jean and Scott, two of my students." He said and wheeled himself more into the room. "Or perhaps Kitty and Kurt?"

Rogue remembered the bipolar redhead and the guy with the visor and of course she remembered Kurt, his psyche was currently residing in her head. "Yeah Ah remember them." She said frowning. "That red-head and boy with the visor were super friendly." Sarcasm dripped from every word.

"No Rogue, you were tricked." He said earnestly, clearly upset for having her being tricked. "There was another there that night, another mutant by the name of Mystique. She fooled you Rogue into believing that we were there to cause you harm." He said.

She of course knew this from her multiple absorptions of the shape shifting trickster.

"Then why were ya there?" Rogue asked. She knew Mystique, very well in fact. The shape shifter had chased her ever since she had got her powers. That's the main reason she had let herself be caught and taken to Area 51. She just hadn't planned on staying so long.

"To help you Rogue. The entire reason I built this school was to help young mutants control their powers and to help others with them." He said and Rogue could feel a pitch coming on.

"Ah can't help anyone with my powers." She told him only thing she was good for was gathering information.

"Just give me a chance, and even if I can't help you, I can at least protect you from whoever you're hiding from." He said and Sogue stiffened.

"Ah'd rather you not go through my thoughts in the future." She said with narrowed eyes.

"I'm sorry Rogue, but we needed to find out your name and why Area 51 captured you." He said apologetically. "But please just give the Institute a chance, wouldn't it be nice to have a warm bed and the safety of other looking out for you for a while at least?"

Rogue had to admit the idea was very appealing. She could lay low for a while and gather herself back up. The whole point of letting herself be captured and taken to Area 51 was to through Mystique off the trail. Plus it might be nice to hang around some people her own age for a change.

But she just couldn't bring herself to trust him, no one ever did anything out of the goodness of their hearts. There was always a secret agenda. Rogue wasn't sure if it was the right decision to stay but she really had no other choice. Besides if things go bad she still had a few cards up her sleeves from people she did trust, at least a little bit.

She sighed before answering. "Ah'll stay." She said looking away from him. There was no such thing as a freebie. "What do Ah have ta do ta get protection?"

He smiled that knowing smile that a parent gives to a young child. "You will need to attend the local high school and you will have to obey house rules."

"That's it?" Rogue asked dubiously. "Ya don't want me ta siphon information off of anyone or somethin' like that?"

There was that smile along with a soft chuckle. "No, nothing like that. You won't be forced to do anything against your will."

Rogue thought he sounded sincere and there was no harm in trying this out for a while. Then a question that had been bugging her popped into her head. "Where did ya find me?" Surley this man and his merry band of pubescent mutants hadn't stormed Area 51 just for her.

His good natured smile turned down at her question. "Mutants were recently revealed to the world." Rogue wasn't sure how she felt about that mutants and base lines alike avoided her anyway. "Some of my students and faculty were captured and taken to Area 51. Upon their rescue we found you and brought you with us. You have been in our care for the last three months." He informed her.

"Ah've been out of it that whole time?" He nodded solemnly at her question.

"Now that you are awake do you mind if I have our resident doctor take a look at you?" He asked.

Rogue looked back up to him. "Sure, just don't let him touch my skin." She warned him.

"Don't worry Rogue, we have taken the utmost precautions." He assured her.

A moment later a giant blue ape in a lab coat and glasses walked in to the room with a tray of medical supplies. Rogue wasn't that surprised to see the man, she had seen worse, much worse. Though she had never seen such a pretty shade of blue before.

"It is good to see you awake. I have many a question for you." He told her and Rogue's stomach twisted in remembrance of the scientists.

"Like what?" She asked. He pulled out a medical file and pen and started writing in it. She would have to make sure to destroy that file before she left.

"How many mutations do you have exactly?" He asked causing Rogue to knit her brows together.

"Jus' the one." She told him honestly.

"Hmm," He hummed. "Curios."

"What Hank means to say, is that we were unable to penetrate your arm with a needle and several times one of us would come in here to find you floating." Xavier explained.

Oh.

She knew what he meant now. "Ah, Ah accidentally absorbed someone permanently once." She told him, surely he wouldn't let her stay now. "So now Ah have her powers of super strength, invulnerability an' flight." Rogue explained.

Xavier looked mildly shocked at this revelation while Hank began scribbling furiously in a folder he was holding. "How did this happen?" Xavier asked.

"It was an accident." She said a little harder then she had the previous time.

Xavier looked at her for a moment as though trying to read her mind again. On instinct she forcefully pushed up her mental walls fully aware that it made her look guilty. She wouldn't just allow him to read her mind. "And the girl you absorbed-"

"Dead." Rogue said curtly. She hated what had happened to Carol and now had to live the rest of her life with the woman's blood on her hands. "It was an accident." She said again, but this time she was trying to convince herself.

"I see," He said coming to some sort of decision. "You are still more then welcomed to stay here."

Rogue was momentarily surprised when he said this. She must have been mistaken because men like him didn't allow urders around their untainted protégés. "Ah'm sorry?"

"I said; you are still welcomed to stay here. You said it was an accident and I believe you." He said in what Rogue guessed to be a fatherly voice.

This man was giving her a chance despite the fact she had told him she had killed a woman. "If Ah'm gonna stay here, then Ah'd appreciate it if ya didn't tell anyone about that or my extra abilities." She asked the two men hoping that they would oblige her. She didn't need a group of her peers knowing she was a murderer, being a mutant teenager was hard enough as it was.

"Don't worry Rogue, your secret is safe with us. Your business is your prerogative here." Xavier assured her.

"Now let's get down to how exactly your mutation works." Hank said.

XxX

It was dinner time when Rogue was finally able to leave the med lab, as Hank had called it. Rogue followed the Professor down the long hallway to the dining room. According to the Professor, Mystique had blown up the mansion right before the world had found out about their little secret. They were currently in the middle of a rebuild and had pretty much everything done except the interior which was about halfway done. Because of the rebuild, Xavier was able to add more rooms to the mansion and thus Rogue would be allowed to have her own room.

Xavier wheeled into the large dining room with Rogue hot on his tires. He cleared his throat and gained attention of the twenty or so mutants in the room. "I would like you all to welcome our newest student, Rogue." He said and gestured to her.

All eyes turned to her. Rogue absolutely hated being the center of attention. All were silent except the gruff man in the corner. Wolverine, Mystique's psyche provided.

"Welcome." He told her causing the flood gates to burst open.

Everyone suddenly remembered their manners as several got up to either allow room or to go shake her hand. The boy with red sunglasses reached her first. "Glad to see you awake and that you decided to stay." He said very businesslike and held out a stiff hand.

She looked down at it for a second before looking back up to him. "Ah don't really shake hands or anythin' like that." She told him hoping it didn't hurt his feelings or anything.

A light blush crept across his cheeks. "Of course," He said. "I wasn't thinking."

"Like, don't hog her!" Cried a tiny brunette girl. Rogue needed to remember to be extra nice to her for helping the awkward moment to pass. "Come on you can, like, totally sit next to me and Kurt." She said excitedly. She grabbed her covered arm and dragged her to the table to sit between her and the blue boy.

She knew the blue boy instantly, her half-brother. She knew he was her brother from one of the many times she had absorbed their mother. They also had another brother but Rogue couldn't get much information on him.

"Do you remember me?" He asked excitedly in a thick German accent.

"Yeah, the teleporter." She said with a slight smile. She loved his power it was so fun to just pop around wherever you wanted. The tail and acrobatics were pretty cool too

"Yeah! That's me!" He said excitedly looking around at the kids around him.

The rest of the dinner was spent in talk about Area 51 and various goings on. She had kept mostly quiet, only speaking when spoken too. She had tried to follow along with the conversations but it was hard, she hadn't eaten this much in a long time. She had been on the run with no money and had to get what she could. She hadn't noticed the pair or wild grey eyes watch her devour plate after plate.

Rogue was currently following Wolverine down the hallway to her bedroom. He had been quiet the whole time, in fact the only thing she had heard him say to her or anyone else was 'welcome'. They finally arrived at a door at the very end of the hallway. He opened the door and flipped the light switch before moving out of the way to let her in.

She walked past him to stand just inside the door before turning around to face him. "Thank you." She said quietly but she knew he heard it.

He did a sort of grunt but didn't leave, instead he just stared her down. "Are you in trouble kid?" He blurted out after a moment.

Rogue kept her face carefully blank.

"You don't have to tell me, just know that I'm here if you need someone to talk to." He said before turning on his heel and leveling her alone.

Rogue watched his retreating form down the hallway until he disappeared around the corner. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She would have to be more careful. Rule number one: don't get attached. She closed her door and leaned against it as she surveyed the room. There was a single full-sized bed on the south wall and a glass door that lead to a small balcony on the east wall. the balcony faced the front gate and had a string of lights on the railing.

The bedroom was nice and Rogue really wanted to sleep in, what was sure to be a very soft bed. But she didn't feel safe sleeping around these people. They seemed nice enough but rule fourteen and fifteen kept her from losing her senses. Never trust anyone and there are always strings attached. Just because Xavier said he didn't want anything from her didn't mean it was true.

Rogue looked around the room for anything that didn't belong. She saw nothing right off the bat but that didn't mean there wasn't anything there. She grabbed the pillow and spare blanket from the bed before going to the balcony.

Once outside, Rogue looked up to the roof about three feet above her head. Rule sixteen: someone is always watching. So instead of floating up to the roof like she would have preferred to do, she threw the pillow and blanket up on the roof before climbing onto it herself. She walked the roof until she came to the chimney on the north side where she set up camp.

Tomorrow she had to start school. Maybe she shouldn't have taken Xavier up on his offer. It was bad enough the first time around and this time didn't promise to be much better especially with the public knowing about their little secret. She dreaded tomorrows torture but knew she had to get her sleep tonight, she would need her strength for tomorrow. Her last thought before she drifted off to sleep was that the roof was surprisingly comfortable compared to some of the places she had slept before.

A/N

I'm actually rewriting parts of this story so I won't post all the chapters at once and I do expect some freaking reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Rogue woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of birds chirping. But that couldn't be right, why did she smell coffee? She had slept on the roof last night. Someone was up here with her. Her eyes shot open as she jumped up into a defensive stance. She looked around wildly for a moment before spotting Logan several feet in front of her sipping his coffee casually. They were both quiet for a moment as Logan took another sip and Rogue dropped her raised fists, watching him wearily.

"Sleep well?" He asked. She shrugged her shoulders. Logan sighed and jerked his head to the side of the roof where he had come from. "Come on, Storm is taking you shopping before you have to take your placement test." He said as he turned around and walked to the edge of the roof.

Rogue gathered her pillow and blanket before following him off the roof. She briefly wondered not only how, but why, he had come up on the roof with a cup of coffee. She followed him down to her room and deposited her stuff on the bed. Logan stood by the door that lead to the hallway.

"How did ya know where Ah was?" She asked him. Through her mother's memories she knew he had the ability of advanced healing along with enhanced senses.

He gave her a grin. "I would do the same thing if I was you." He said. "I'm not good at this sentimental stuff, but we can help you if you need it."

Rogue bit her lip. Rule eight: never ever involve any more people than you have to. "No," She said. "Ah'm fine." He didn't look like he believed her.

"You sure? You're acting awful paranoid for someone who doesn't need any help." He countered.

"Ah'm fine." She said a little more earnestly.

He quirked an eyebrow at her and turned around, leaving her alone in her room. She would have to be more careful, especially around him. There was a knock on her door and Rogue looked up to see Ororo standing in her doorway. Rogue thought she was a pleasant woman, even a little motherly. Of course, Rogue only knew what motherly was from TV sitcoms, her own mother was psychotic.

"Are you ready to go shopping?" She asked with a kind smile.

Rogue felt herself blush. "Well, umm, Ah don't really need any more cloths." She told her. It was a complete and utter lie but Rogue had no money to buy cloths. Mostly she survived off picking pockets, a skill she had learned from the psyche of the woman in front of her.

Ororo looked down at the borrowed jeans and sweatshirt. Rogue watched as realization dawned on her. "Oh no dear, Charles insisted that I take you to get some clothes on him." Rogue started chewing on her lip, she really shouldn't accept freebies. "Don't worry about it dear." She said and held up a set of keys and smiled. "The mall awaits us." Rogue hesitated only a moment before following her new teacher out of her new room.

XxX

Rogue and Storm returned to the mansion, their arms loaded down with bags upon bags of cloths for Rogue. Storm had insisted that Rogue get some of everything, from dresses to jeans to skirts and tops. Against Rogues will, Storm had bought her lingerie, claiming every girl needed to feel sexy even if no one ever saw it. They had deposited all the bags into Rogues room before she had to get ready for her placement test.

Before she knew it she was at the high school and sitting in an empty class room with an ancient looking teacher watching her every move. Rogue looked down at the test in front of her, she should be a senior now but had ran away in the last quarter of her sophomore year. She had thought this test would be hard but she knew every answer. Well not necessarily her so much as the people she had absorbed over the years.

Was it cheating if the voices in her head kept shouting out the answers? The voices didn't think so.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner specifically answered every math and science question. Wade Wilson, though helpful, also hindered, he helped with the foreign language and geography portion but answered every other question wrong. She had also apparently absorbed Hank McCoy who provided every literature answer plus more. Over all, Rogue was sure she would be allowed to be a senior this year.

The teacher, however, was watching her every move to make sure she wasn't cheating. On her way into the school she had heard quite a few insults directed specifically at her and the Professor. Hell, even the teacher in the room with her now had given her some of the dirtiest looks she had ever received. Rogue answered the last question and put down her pencil.

"Ah'm done." She told the teacher. The woman sneered as she walked over and snatched the paper up before storming out of the room.

Xavier rolled in with that ever-present smile on his face. "The Principle would like to meet with us." He said and Rogue followed him out of the room and down the hall.

Rogue got a few more dark looks from some of the students and a very excited wave from Kitty as she followed Xavier to the front office. She walked into the office to face more hateful glares. A tall man with perfect brown hair and glasses sat behind his desk. Rogue took a seat next to Xavier in front of the desk.

"Let's go ahead and get this out of the way, mutant." He spat. "By law I am required to allow you into this school. But be assured your first screw up and I'll have you kicked out of here so fast your head will spin." He threatened.

Rogue felt her eyes narrow and a biting remark on the tip of her tongue. "We understand Principal Kelly, I can assure you that Rogue here will not cause any problems." Xavier said before Rogue could open her mouth.

Kelly snorted but dismissed them none the less. Rogue returned to the main part of the office to retrieve her class schedule. She was indeed going to be a senior for the rest of the year. Pleased with her test results Rogue allowed herself to smile. The woman behind the desk however felt the need to wipe it off her face.

"You may be a senior but you won't be allowed to walk at graduation." She informed her snottily.

"What? Why not?" Rogue asked quickly. Was it because she was a mutant?

"Your placement test may qualify you to be a senior but you didn't finish your sophomore year and didn't even have a junior year. So you can't walk with the rest of the seniors." She said with a smug smile.

Rogue rolled her eyes. Sure it'd be nice to actually walk with the others at graduation but it wouldn't keep her up crying at night. "Ah don't need ta walk with the rest o' the seniors ta graduate an' move on ta better things than this." She said as she gestured to the school around her and effectively wiped the smirk off the woman's face.

Rogue turned around and left the school. She had told the Professor before she left that she needed a little time to clear her head, he had reminded her to be careful and be back in time for supper. Rogue wondered the streets of Bayville thankful that people in general just left her alone. Well that was until a boy around her age with green tinted skin jumped out at in front of her from an alley. Rogue stopped and eyed him wearily as the he began hopping around her like a frog.

Mutant.

"Oh look what we have here." He said excitedly.

Another mutant emerged from the alley, a really, really large mutant. "Hey girly, how about your hand over all your money and jewelry." He demanded in a Texan accent with a smug smirk.

"You boys sure ya wanna do this?" Rogue asked as yet another mutant made an appearance.

"Look-here-we-seem-to-be-running-low-on-cash-so-ju st-hand-your-crap-over." He said super fast.

Rogue waited a moment for another mutant to appear but when none did she decided to speak to the bunch of idiots who were attempting to rob her. Attempting being the key word here.

"You boys mutants?" She asked them already knowing the answer.

The large one chuckled. "Don't worry if you cooperate we won't have ta use our powers ta hurt ya."

Rogue couldn't help the smile that took over her lips. She discreetly slipped off her gloves and stuffed them into her back pockets. She reached into her front pocket and pulled out a small wad of cash Xavier had given her.

The green boys frog like tongue shot out to grab the money but Rogue was quicker. With her bare hand she grabbed frog boy's tongue and let her own powers take effect as his life force began to flow into her. She watched the familiar lines take over who she now knew to be Toad's face as his friends gasped in surprise. After another second she let go and let him fall to the ground.

Before the others could react she used her new acrobatics to jump up high and land behind Quicksilver and instantly absorbed him and his powers. Rogue turned to Blob.

"Uhh." He started stupidly. "We didn't mean nothin' by it." He said backing up. "Honest."

But Rogue knew from experience that if you didn't get them when you had the chance there was no doubt they wouldn't hesitate to get you. Using her new powers, she was on Dukes before he could even blink. Rogue shook her head as she looked down at the big bad mutants and put her gloves back on. A stray memory floated across her mind. One of Mystique and the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood that these boys belonged too.

"Shit." She drawled out before turning and walking away. She would need to lay low now and hope the boys wouldn't tell her mother about her. And hopefully, Petiro won't tell his father, Magneto about her presence in Bayville. Rogue hurried back to the mansion and hoped no one would know about today's incident.

A/N

Not much change in the chapter but I still hope for reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a month since the incident with the Brotherhood. She hadn't seen or heard Mystique since, so she assumed that the shape shifter was laying low. She was walking through the foyer when Logan met her at the door holding some sort of small package in his hand along with the rest of the mail. Rogue never expected mail, no one knew she was here after all. Or at least that's what she thought until Logan shoved the small package at her.

She cautiously took the package and examined it for any signs that it might be a bomb. "Already checked it out Stripes," He said using the nickname he had for her. He had one for every student. "No bombs, no poison."

Rogue nodded and turned it over to examine the words scrawled across the front. It was loopy and sloppy. Wade. It figures that man would have Weasel track her to Xavier's. He had kind of adopted her like a lost mutt, as he liked to say. Rogue viewed him as some sort of crazed over protective uncle that got drunk at Christmas and no one liked to talk about. Of course, he was only over protective on certain things like her dating anyone not that it would happen anyway. Hell, he even insisted on training her in self-defense and how to kill.

She ripped off the brown paper wrapping excitedly wondering what lay in the box. With Wade it could be anything. She tore open the box to reveal a small communicator and ear piece.

_Call me if you need a valiant rescue from the spook. _

_P.S. I would have sent you all the seasons of Golden Girls but then Weasel reminded me about the 'Bea Aurther Incident' that we aren't allowed to speak of._

_~ Mr. Knight in Spandex_

Rogue felt the corners of her mouth tug up into a smile as she read the note. She looked up to see Logan still watching her with some sort of expression on his face.

"Who's that from?" He asked, trying not to sound like he was grilling her.

"Just a friend." She said with a distant smile.

There was suddenly a knock on the front door distracting the two from their conversation. Logan opened it up to reveal an angel. An honest to goodness angel with big fluffy wings.

"Warren." Logan greeted.

"Hey," He greeted back. "I need to speak to the Professor." He told him urgently.

Logan nodded and lead the angel away to another part of the mansion. Rogue shrugged the encounter off before turning to take her communicator to her room. She had just entered when she received a telepathic message from the Professor.

_Rogue, Jean and Scott, gear up and meet me in the hanger._

It had taken Rogue awhile to get use to him talking to her like that. It hadn't scared her at all but she was so used to ignoring all voices in her head but her own that she hadn't noticed it. She walked to her closet and pulled out her uniform. It was different from the other X-Men's uniforms. Hers was green and yellow with a tan bombers jacket. Tony Stark himself had designed it just for her, it was aerodynamic, it regulated her body temp and was tailored to fit her every curve. She was lucky that she had stashed it in a locker at the train station before her capture along with a few other things.

After she was dressed she met the rest of the X-Men down in the hanger. Another reason she liked her uniform was because the guys just couldn't keep their eyes off her. This was where rule eighteen came into play: enjoy the little things. Rogue walked aboard the blackbird to see Xavier, the angel, Hank and Scott and Jean already seated. Rogue took a seat next to the angel who introduced himself as Warren Worthington III a.k.a. Angel. Big surprise there.

It was hours before they finally landed in England. During the flight, Xavier had explained the mission to Rogue specifically. It seemed everyone else had already dealt with Mesmero and Magneto. Rogue didn't tell them she had met Magneto before when he had attempted to threaten, blackmail and bully her into joining his team. She had violently declined and sent him on his way by threatening to tell Wanda and Petiro about their secret sister Lorna.

It seemed this time, Mesmero was trying to open the tomb of some ancient mutant. Also, he had apparently used mind control on one of Magnetos stooges and now the Master of Magnetism was looking for revenge. And now the X-Men were going to London to stop them both.

Hank landed the jet on a nearby parking garage. "Well the museum looked quiet." He said, taking off his head set. "Maybe we got here in time." He said hopefully.

Xavier didn't look as hopeful. "Still, we better hurry." He said before turning around to face Scott. "Cyclopes, would you go inform our stowaway that we've arrived."

Scott stood up with a confused look on his features. "Stowaway?"

Rogue along with the rest of the team unloaded the jet as Scott dragged an unwelcomed passenger down the ramp by his ear. "Bobby you should know better than to hideaway on a mission, your still a new recruit." Scott scolded.

"But so is Rogue." He argued trying to pull himself away from his team leader.

"Rogue's abilities surpass yours along with her responsibility. She is a valuable assets on this mission whereas you are a liability." He said sternly. Rogue would have felt useful if he hadn't referred to her as an asset, like she was an object.

"Okay, Okay." Bobby said, hoping to get Scott off him.

The team started walking to the museum as Bobby transformed himself into Iceman. "Oh yeah, definitely the cool team." He said causing Rogue to roll her eyes at the corniness of it.

As they walked closer Rogue and the rest of them noticed that the doors had been ripped open. "Looks like Magneto's already let himself in." Scott said.

"You stick with me." Hank ordered Bobby.

"Don't worry, I got your back." He said and Rogue wondered if his enlarged head would be able to fit through the front door.

"You don't have my back." Hank said as he walked up the steps. "You don't have a clue." Rogue couldn't agree more.

Rogue took her stance just inside the front doors of the museum and watched Sabertooth patrol by the windows. He looked out one just in time to see Jean floating on the other side and that is when she made the first move. Using her telekinesis she pushed him further into the room. Angel flew in right past her causing the wind to ruffle her hair. Bobby shot an ice-pole through the glass ceiling allowing Hank to slid down and make his own entrance. Rogue was the only one who used the door, they were there for a reason after all.

Sabertooth freed himself from Jean's hold but Scott was right there to send an optic blast right at his chest, sending him flying back into a giant tin man's chest. Sabertooth slid down his chest while the tin man didn't budge. A man in a bright orange jumpsuit with matching hair and a handsome man in a trench coat ran up to stand beside the tin man.

"Hello, we've got X-Men." The orange haired man said in a strong Australian accent.

"An' Ah think they wanna play." Handsome said in a Cajun accent. He pulled out two playing cards, they lit up and crackled before he threw them directly at Jean and Scott. Both dodged the clearly dangerous playing card before they exploded.

Rogue decided to stay in the shadows. If she could drain Victor or the Cajun she would be good. She snuck closer to the Cajun because the thought of absorbing Creed again held absolutely no appeal. The aussie started shooting fire balls at Angel who was just able to dodge them. He threw a wild one and almost hit the Cajun who ducked out of the way before the flaming ball hit the pillar behind him. the pillar knocked over but the tin man was able to catch it and used it like a javelin to throw at Scott.

Thankfully Scott was quick and shot his optic beams at the oncoming pillar. Beast jumped on to tin man's shoulders causing him to lose balance, the aussie took this chance to try and fry Hank. That's when Rogue saw her chance. she darted forward to tin man with her glove already off and placed a bare hand on his surprised face.

It was something to watch his veins bulge in his metal form and then for him to de-metal completely. Rogue felt the new power surge through her own veins as she was overcome with his memories and thoughts. Rogue was busy sorting through the memories and only noticed just in time that Pyro, the aussie, broke his ice incased flame throwers. He caught sight of her over an unconscious Colossus and sent a jet of flames at her. Using her new found power she encased herself in the strong metal to avoid the uncomfortable questions of why her skin didn't burn.

Rogue silently thanked Tony for making her uniform fire retardant as she walked closer toward Pyro, through the flames. The second he caught sight of her metal clad body his eyes grew wide and he ran in the opposite direction. There was a loud crash outside causing the X-Men to freeze and the Acolytes' to run for the front doors. Rogue saw Magneto come to land in front of them looking slightly weak.

"I don't care what it takes, destroy that spider!" He commanded, his goons took off after the second key.

Rogue and the other X-Men hurried after them but met Xavier in the parking lot. "We have to capture it and then protect it. That spider stone possesses answers we need."

"We're on it Professor." Scott said as they took off. Rogue noticed Hank stayed back as they took off in another direction.

They followed the spider to the river where Angel flew above it. Jean stepped up and tried to lift it with her telekinesis but it sent some kind of psychic wave at her causing her to lose her concentration. Luckily, Scott was there to catch her as she fell. Scott then sent several blasts at the damn thing but it didn't even slow it down.

"Scott, don't damage it." Jean warned him.

"Just trying to slow it down." He told her as it got away. "Iceman bridge us over."

"Hang on." He said in his squeaky voice as he began to form an ice bridge across the river. He looked over his shoulder at Rogue and threw her a wink. It didn't seem to matter to him or several of the other younger recruits that she couldn't touch. In fact, it seemed to encourage them to try harder to win her affections.

Rogue enjoyed sailing over the river on the ice but it was nothing compared to flying. They rushed to get to the spider but were too late as Magneto had already began sealing it back into its stone form. Rogue heard the blackbird come to land several yards behind her as the spider disappeared and the stone fell to the ground smoking. Colossus went over to his blackmailer to help him to his feet.

"The key has been destroyed." Magneto managed to spit out.

Xavier shook his head as Hank carried a bound up Mesmero out to the crowd. "Rogue." He said turning his head to her. "Will you please get all the information you can on the key from Mesmero?" He asked rather politely. Which Rogue thought odd for the situation.

All eyes turned to her. She saw the recognition on Magneto and Victor's face register, but they both remained quiet. Rogue nodded before pulling off her glove and walking toward the tied up mutant. Xavier had explained to her before hand that she might need to absorb Mesmro as his mental shield's were too strong for him.

Mesmro began to laugh.

"You'll never get information out of me, telepath!" He spat at her.

She was two feet in front of him now. "Ah'm not a telepath, an' ya can't hide anythin' from me." She said before touching her bare fingers to his forehead.

She concentrated on his eyes as she felt the pull of her powers. The veins on his face bulged up and surged to her fingers on his skin. She heard him gasp for breath and watched as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Once she had drained all the information off of him she let go and let him fall to the ground still gasping for air.

Rogue closed her eyes as she sorted through the memories and thoughts. "Ya did exactly what he wanted." She said pointing to Magneto. "He knew only you had the power ta destroy the spider."

"No." He argued, but Rogue cut him off before he could continue.

"It wasn't just a key, it was a guardian of the crypt of Apocalypse, designed to prevent his release. An' now that it's destroyed the second door is open." She said. "He used ya." She told him, glad that it wasn't her who had been used for once.

"Wait where'd he go?" Bobby suddenly asked. And for the first time everyone noticed Mesmero had disappeared.

"There's no telling." Hank said.

Angel pointed down the street to where the spider had been going. "It was headed directly south-west." He said. "Where do you think it was going?"

They all looked back to her. Rogue closed her eyes and concentrated on his memories of the tomb. "All Ah'm getting' is a lotta snow an' a mountain. Tibet, Ah think."

"That narrows it down but not much. But it is in our best interest to find out, because when Mesmero finds the third and final key, the world as we know it will change forever."

A/N

Again, not a lot of change. Mostly I just cleaned this chapter up some.


	4. Chapter 4

Rogue had been quizzed every night after dinner for a month after the Spider Stone Incident. The month after that wasn't so bad as the Professor found other ways to look for Mesmero rather than go through Rogues mind with a fine tooth comb. For this, Rogue was very grateful, she wanted to keep her secrets to herself and she certainly didn't want Xavier to know about all the people she had absorbed. Some things were just better to keep under wraps.

During the last two months nothing had happened much other than Logan finding out that Hydra had cloned him and now had a rogue agent bent on their destruction out on the loose. Thankfully, Rogue had been on one of her late night walks so she hadn't met Laura. Another thing she was thankful for, Rogue didn't particularly like being neutralized. Another thing she had noticed over the last few weeks was that she always had the terrible sensation that she was being followed and what's worse she suspected it was more than one person.

It could have been a multitude of people after her. Magneto had seen her in London and now knew of her allegiance with Xavier. It was entirely possible he could have sent his minions to capture her. There was of course Mystique who was always faithfully stuck to the bottom of her shoe. It could even be SHIELD, she had caught the eye of Fury a couple of months back and he seemed the type to check up on her every now and then. Hell, it could even be Wade for all she knew.

Whoever it was, was setting off all kinds of alarms in her head.

That night, Rogue went to sleep in her bed and fell in to a deep sleep, which was highly unusual for her given the nature of her powers. Rogue dreamt about a swirl of colors before things came into shape. In a haze she made her way through the mansion absorbing each of its occupants. She saw herself walk into Kitty's room but the room was empty, the voice who had been guiding her told her to return to Scott's room . She didn't know why she was listening to this voice but she just couldn't help herself. She returned to Scott's room to find Kitty trying to wake him up. The voice told her to absorb her team mate and she obeyed. Kitty let out a squeak before falling to the floor. Upon the mysterious voices commands she used Jeans telekinesis to carry the phaser back to her own room.

The next morning found Rogue looking into the fogged mirror of her attached bathroom. She wiped some of the steam off so she could see her reflection. She had slept soundly all night but had felt like she had not slept a wink. Her head throbbed and she felt sore all over like the time Wade had insisted on getting her drunk and she had absorbed fifteen people before passing out in his back yard.

"What a bizarre dream." She said to herself. She had dreamed that she had absorbed everyone in the mansion and that Mystique and Mesmero had been there. "Ah think Ah need therapy." She finally decided, her issues with her mother were starting to effect her even while asleep now. A Therapist would have a field day trying to psycho analyze her.

Thirty minutes later Rogue was dressed in her jeans and a button up white hoodie. She walked down to the kitchen but it was full of all her housemates who were in full swing and ready for the last day of school. She propped an elbow against the door frame as she watched them bustle about the kitchen all their movement was making her sick. Did she get knock out drunk last night?

She just couldn't work up an enthusiasm to eat that morning. She knew she had an unhealthy appetite and this did nothing to make it better but she thought she honestly might get sick all over the floor if she were to eat breakfast.

Besides the hustle and bustle of the kitchen was doing nothing for her pounding headache. "Ah think Ah'm gonna pass on breakfast." She said to no one in particular. She just needed to get to school and finish up high school.

Rogue walked to the garage where Logan was already leaning against the X-Van. Rogue briefly wondered why Xavier had to put an X in front of everything. Logan looked up to see her. "Ya alright, kid?" He asked, taking in her tired appearance.

"Yeah, Ah'm fine. Just had a weird dream last night." She said dismissing his worries. But then a thought occurred to her, he would be able to smell if anyone had been following her, right? "Hey Logan," She said getting his attention back.

He looked up from the paper in his hands and raised his eyebrows slightly to indicate he was listening. "Ya'd be able ta smell if someone who didn't belong was snoopin' around here right?" She asked him.

"Why? You seen someone snooping around here?" He asked, instantly on guard.

"No." She admitted. "Ah just got this feelin' that someone's been followin' me is all." Then she let out a nervous chuckle. "Ah'm probably just bein' paranoid." But she knew that wasn't right. Rule two: if it seems someone is out to get you, they are.

"I'll still check it out." He assured her.

"Thanks." She said and gave him a small half-smile.

It wasn't a moment later that the garage doors burst open and all the kids began to file into the van. Rogue of course got shotgun being it was dangerous otherwise. It only took Logan a few minutes to drive to the school and let them out. Rogue of course took her time, not as excited about the last day of school like everyone else. She saw Logan turn the corner out of the side of her eye and watched the doors to the school close in front of her. Only a few more steps and she would be in her own personal hell.

But then she heard a car pull up behind her and heard the voice from her dream speak to her again. It told her to get in the car and so she obeyed it. Once again she was in the familiar haze that seemed to envelop the earth whenever the voice spoke to her. She walked to the car and climbed in before shutting the door. Out of the corner of her eye she could barely make out the form of her blue shape shifting mother. For some reason she didn't find it odd in the slightest that she willingly got into a car with her mother to be taken to parts unknown.

Rogue wasn't sure if it was hours or minutes before they arrived at their destination time seemed warped to her. the voice told her to absorb each of the mutants in the nearly demolished house. She nodded before exiting the car. Her plan was to take them each out one by one instead of having to fight them all at once. Wanda would have to be first since she had the best chance of fighting back.

Rogue rang the doorbell and pushed the door open before lifting into the air and using Kitty's power to phase into the house. She saw Wanda go to answer the door but when she saw no one on the other side of the door she dismissed it and turned to walk away. That's when rogue made her move, using telekinesis she lifted the surprised scarlet witch into the air and absorbed her. She could hear the Blob and Toad in the next room but they were oblivious to the goings on.

Avalanche walked out of the kitchen and through the foyer he was almost to the next room when he saw Wanda's unconscious body. "Huh?" He said stupidly. This was just too easy.

Rogue landed next to him and as he turned to look at her and absorbed him easily. She moved onto the next room to take out the simpletons. They didn't even notice her standing in the doorway as they watched their morning cartoons. Rogue used Wanda's power to send the Blobs cereal bowl flying into the toads face. Using her own skills rogue flipped across the room to the green tinted mutant, jamming the cereal bowl on his head again. She then flipped her way over to Fred who just watched her. She landed on his shoulders and roughly grabbed his checks and drained him.

Toad finally managed to get the bowl off his head and saw Rogue. He was the first one who actually registered what was happening and made a run for it. Rogue immediately followed him by teleporting in front of him every time he tried to make an exit. She finally pinned him against a wall. He looked between her ungloved hands before looking back at her face.

"I hate this part." He managed to squeak out before Rogue lifted her hand to absorb him too.

"What is going on down there!" Asked an annoyed Petiro before he zipped down the stairs. Rogue instantly lifted up through the ceiling so she wouldn't be seen and so she could surprise the speed demon. He ran into the living room to examine Fred and Todd. Rogue choose this moment to float back down through the ceiling. She reached her hand out to drain him from behind but he either saw her shadow or sensed her so he ran to the opposite side of the room.

"Hey-what's-going-on!" He asked in his super fast speech.

Rogue felt her eyes grow warm as she wanted to use Scott's powers to blast him. her glowing red eyes must have scared him because he made a break for it back up the stairs. Once again using telekinesis she stopped Quicksilver before he was halfway up the stairs. She floated into the foyer as he desperately tried to get out of her telekinetic grasp. She pulled him back down the stairs and absorbed him. he let out a groan as he crashed to the floor. She smiled at her handiwork before the voice told her to return to the car because she had more work to do.

Her mother stepped out of the car to allow Rogue to climb in. Once again she felt as though she were suspended in time as colors swirled around her. The car stopped and she was let out it looked like she was back at the mansion. She heard a distant noise and a sharp pain in her forehead. She grabbed her head and looked up. How did she get back at the mansion, wasn't she just about to go to school? Maybe she had blocked it out or had been on autopilot the whole time. She shook her head to clear the drowsiness from her eyes and mind. She made her way up to the mansion, she needed a nap or something.

She was having that strange dream again. The world clouded around her as the voice told her to come to the car. Rogue opened her balcony doors and floated down to the ground below. She felt wet, maybe it was raining. She walked across the grounds and out the front gate to the waiting car where she climbed in before it took off. Once again Mystique was there, she was saying something to someone but she wasn't allowed to hear it so she watched the world swirl around her.

The voice was talking to her again now, it wanted her to absorb more mutants. She looked out the window next to her head, she saw an open window on the second floor of the warehouse. she turned back to her mother, to get up there she would need her shape shifting abilities.

"The window." Did her voice sound odd to anyone else, maybe she was coming down with a cold she couldn't really tell in fact she felt numb all over.

Mystique held out her hand and Rogue grabbed her, it only took a minute for Rogue to drain her before she slumped over in her seat. Rogue stepped out of the car into the pouring rain, she never liked the rain it was always cold. Rogue looked back to the window before transforming into an owl. She always wondered what it would be like to be an owl. She felt fragile and decided not to transform into an owl anymore after that.

She flew up and through the window and when she was about ten feet from the ground when she allowed her original form to take back over. Yes she liked this much better. Rogue heard a noise and quickly took cover behind a large crate. She peeked around it to see colossus moving giant crates across the room. Boom, boom, boom, boom went his feet, he would never hear her come up behind him. Using toad's abilities she jumped up behind him and pressed her fingers to the back of his neck. He groaned in pain and the heavy create crashed on top of the both of them. It of course didn't hurt rogue at all with her invulnerability. She stood up and grabbed colossus by his shirt collar and walked straight through the think wooden wall.

She dragged him a couple of feet before dropping him to the ground. There was a sound to her right that sounded like a roar, she didn't register the threat in time as Sabertooth slammed into the side of her. he went to tear her to ribbons but Rogue had caught up with him. she turned her hand and arm into the steel like metal and grabbed his poised hand. She began absorbing him instantly and used his own strength against him as she over powered him. It wasn't a moment before he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Rogue held up her metal clad hand to admire it. It amazed her that her hands still looked delicate even when they were so deadly. She saw what appeared to be fire in the reflection on her hand. She turned quickly to see the insane Pyro, a wisp of a thought crossed her mind about introducing him and Wade to each other.

"Awful bold of ya coming here girl." He said as he stepped off a create. "Or are ya just stupid." He then shot a wall of fire directly at her.

The heat was overwhelming but Rogue forced her body to cover itself completely in metal. The maniac chuckled but quickly replaced it with, "Huh?"

Rogue walked closer to him, boom, boom, boom, boom. She reached her hand out as she came closer, Rogue grabbed his face as she let his life force flow in to her. She held on a moment longer just because he had burnt her clothes and they now hung in rags, just barely covering her body. Without much effort she flung his limp body to the side. This all felt so familiar, as though it had happened before.

Clapping behind her caused her to turn around to see the really hot Cajun. He was the same man who had dominated her thoughts since London, she just couldn't get him out of her head. She hadn't even talked to him and she had a crush on him. "Bravo, Cherie." He said with that oh so charming smirk. "Looks ta me like Rogues up ta no good." He said as he pushed himself off a wall and walked closer to her. She didn't know how he knew her name she only knew his from stolen memories. "But hey, Ah like that in a girl."

Rogue was glad that she couldn't blush and was too preoccupied to wonder why. He pointed his bo staff at her and she de-metaled and pushed the staff away. She reached her hand out to absorb him but he backed away and put the staff in between them.

"Only thin' is, ya aint alone in this, are ya?" He asked, she cornered him against a create. "Who's behind it? Mystique?" He jumped up on the create fluidly as she swung her arm at him. "Ah think so, question is, why?" He said.

Rogue wanted to talk to him but the voice told her no and she had to do what the voice told her she just didn't know why. The voice was growing tired of the games and told her to finish the job. She used telekinesis to fling Gambit across the room and into a wall. He landed on the ground with a thud and Rogue jumped on him. He was too quick however, and caught her with his feet and pushed her up and away from him.

"See if ya can guess." She said fighting against the voice for that one little sentence. She quickly received a sharp pain as punishment for her defiance.

Rogue struggled to reach him but his legs were too long and her arms just weren't long enough. After another moment of struggling he flung her off him. She flew across the room and landed behind a create, Rogue stuck her head up from behind it but kept low enough where he wouldn't be able to spot her. He was spinning around looking for her. She saw her chance and snuck up behind him, he turned around just as she was half a foot away. She didn't know why, her hands were free and she was showing more skin then was safe, but no she couldn't just drain him the normal way.

She kissed him.

Only her powers didn't seem to be working and she could feel his lips turn into a smile against hers as he began to kiss back. His arms looped around her waist and brought her closer. The voice didn't like this one bit and told her to concentrate on her powers. She obeyed and felt Remy's life force flow into her. Rogue frowned as she watched him fall to the floor. What did he do to her powers where she actually had to try to absorb him?

But the voice told her to focus on her mission so she moved Gambit over and out of the way. She walked to the ramp that Magneto would undoubtedly come down to see what happened to his soldiers. She positioned herself on the floor and transformed into Gambit. It was only a minute before he came down the ramp to stand right in front of 'Gambits' body.

"Rogue." He said taking another look around. "Where are you?" He didn't sound amused. "What?" He asked surprised. He must have spotted Gambit's real body so Rogue shifted back into her own form before absorbing him. She watched him drop to the ground like everyone else before walking out of the warehouse.

The next day was graduation and Rogue had been forced to attend even though she wouldn't get to walk with the rest of her classmates. She had still dressed up in a long-sleeved dress with a short skirt with a pair of heels borrowed from Jean. It had nearly taken an act of congress to get her out of bed this morning but damn if she didn't look good.

She had no idea why she was so tired, she had gone to bed early so that she wouldn't be tired today but since when did Rogue have any luck?

Rogue was seated next to Hank with Ororo and Xavier seated in front of her. "Looks like the forecast is improving." Storm commented.

"Yes, I think even Principle Kelly would appreciate your gifted abilities today, Storm." Xavier agreed.

Speaking of the devil, he walked up on to the stage in front of the crowd. "I think of the first time I spoke in front of you. Change was the theme then and it has never been more important than it is today. So as you move out into this rapidly changing world it is essential that you take control of your futures."

Rogue noticed Petiro watching her as he moved across the field. She wondered why but was distracted by the rest of Kelly's speech. "You may look across from you and see students who have certain advantages over you, but don't be deterred! Any disadvantage can be overcome, you can prevail, we can- oh no!" He said with a sour look on his face. He was glaring at the other end of the football field and everyone turned their heads to look.

Rogue saw Magneto and his Acolytes and Brotherhood coming down the field. The base lines started screaming and running away from the terrifying mutants. "Everyone please remain calm and exit the field as quickly as possible." Kelly commanded.

Rogue felt the haze take over her again, why did this keep happening? She heard the voice tell her to run to him and to not let the X-Men or Brotherhood see her. Rogue stood up and began to move away as she tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd. She had just made it around the bleachers when Quicksilver caught her. "Not so fast Rogue." He said before zipping her to stand between the X-Men and Magneto.

The metal folding chairs began to levitate and circle around her at an alarming speed, her curly hair that she had pinned up coming loose and swirling about her. She knew Magneto was doing it to trap her, but she couldn't let this continue. The voice told her to fly away. But she didn't want to leave she knew she shouldn't leave. Something important was happening.

"Magneto, explain yourself!" Xavier demanded.

_Fly to me_

"The Girl is under Mesmero's control, Charles. She attacked us to absorb our powers and then wiped our minds with his power to cover it up." He accused.

_Fly to me Rogue_

Wait, that wasn't right this was all just a dream, she wasn't under mind control. Was she?

"What proof do you have?" He questioned.

"My surveillance cameras, they captured it all." Magneto explained.

_Don't believe them Rogue, fly to me, come to me._ She wasn't sure if she should go but she felt herself lift into the air nonetheless. Using Magneto's own power against him she sent the chairs flying in all directions to make sure she wouldn't be followed. She was high in the air and soaring off before they knew what happened.

The voice seemed agitated but all she could think about was hoping no one saw up her skirt.

A/N

Not a lot of big changes here from my story or the actual show. You will see some huge changes in the next chapter though so stay tuned.


	5. Chapter 5

Rogue continued to walk around in her fuzzy haze for what seemed liked minutes but easily could have been hours. She tried to think of things to pass the time but she could concentrate or even come with a topic to think about. She just remembered walking and sometimes sitting, once she even felt like she was flying. She could see images in front of her but they were too blurry for her to distinguish she only saw them as blobs. It was possibly the strangest dream she had ever had.

The swirling lights around her grew dim as she continued to where ever she was going. But then the haze started to lift and there was a sharp pain just behind her left eye. She closed her eyes to try to clear her head, when she opened them she realized she was in some sort of cave on steps carved from the floor.

_Come to me Rogue. _

Rogue's body moved of its own accord and turned around to walk back up the stairs. The voice was quieter than before so she resisted when it urged her to run to it. She didn't want to run to it but felt compelled to at least go where the voice commanded her.

When she reached the top of the carved stairs she saw a stone statue of Mystique. How odd. Why would there be a statue of her mother in this cave? This was such an odd place, what was she even doing here?

She walked through a pair of thick carved stone doors to an open area at the mouth of the cave. What she saw there was equally odd with the rest of this messed up dream, perhaps she had consumed too much sugar before bed.

Logan, Creed and Gambit were all fighting the strange man from her dreams. Was this another dream? The strange man with the odd tattoos snapped his head over to her and glared something fierce. She felt as though this was a bad thing but really, how could he expect to be taken seriously when he ran around looking like that?

"Destroy them!" The strange man demanded as he fended off an attack by Logan. It was then that Rogue realized that the disembodied voice that had been ordering her around in this dream. Why on God's green earth had she been listening to him?

She looked to Logan who was slashing furiously with his claws while he and Creed tried to shred the demanding man to ribbons. Then she looked over across the floor to where Gambit was picking himself up. She didn't want to destroy these men, it wasn't in her nature. Though she wouldn't mind tossing Creed around a bit as for all the trouble he always gave her.

"Don't listen to him Rogue!" Logan called over drawing her attention back to him. "Don't let him control you!"

Control her? She wasn't being controled was she? She had never been controled before so how was she to know?

"Destroy them!" The man screeched at her as Logan slashed through his staff with his claws.

Maybe he was a type of telepath. It was awful quiet in her mind and awful foggy. She had never been like this before so maybe she was being controled by this man. Well that just wouldn't do. Rogue was a fighter if nothing else and would not stand for someone who tattooed his face to control her. So she fought against him by pulling herself away.

Though she didn't have to fight long as a card glowing with explosive potential sailed across the cave like a shooting star and hit the man directly in the chest, exploding on impact and sending him into one of the walls. His hold broke with his defeat.

Rogue had exactly two seconds of silence in her mind as the fog cleared. During these two seconds three things happened. First, was that Creed used one thirteen sized boot to stomp down on the man's leg, breaking it in half. Second, Logan and Gambit started walking over to her, the latter stopping short when the former glared at him. And last but not least, was when the overwhelming sense of alarm swept through her as all the psyches came rushing to the surface of her mind.

XxX

Logan threw a glare over to the Cajun who was walking over to Rogue and was pleased when the man stopped short. He was no fool, he could smell the pheromones coming off that kid whenever he was around Rogue. Sure there was probably only about three or four years difference in their age, but at this point those few years were further apart then most.

When this was all over he was going to give Rogue a piece of his mind. She had no business wearing skirts that short around Gambit or the Brotherhood boys. The amount of comments he had heard over the com-link about that stupid dress would keep him in the Danger Room for a month blowing off steam.

He turned his attention back to Rogue in time to see her face switch from confusion to terror. And that's when all hell broke loose.

Her green eyes took on an all too familiar red glowing. He had just enough time to swear out loud before he was shot back into the carved cave wall, part of it crumbling down on to him. Pushing a heavy piece off he stood up in time to see her transform into Sabertooth. The two identical ferals clashed in a mess of snarls and claws.

Gambit ran over to skirt around the edges of the brawl, unsure of what course to take. Logan ran over to join him and took a defensive position just in case. Even with his nose he couldn't tell who was who when they were tearing each other apart like that.

One Creed threw the other over his head toward the mouth of the cave. The Sabertooth on the ground managed to pull himself on to all fours and transform into Storm.

"Wha' the hell is goin' on!" Gambit shouted over the howling wind outside.

Logan didn't answer because he had no idea. The false Storm stood up with a grim frown, her eyes a glowing white.

"We need to subdue her, but don't hurt her!" He called over the rising wind to his two enemies turned ally.

Rogue/Storm lift one hand crackling with lightning toward them.

"Snap out of it Rogue!" He shouted to her. Logan had never been particularly fond of lightning as electricity and his adamantium skeleton didn't exactly mix.

Her frown deepened and her eyes narrowed before she shot a bolt of lightning at him. He tried to doge but it hit his shin and the electricity shot up his skeleton. He hated being electrocuted, it made his hair stand on end and made everything taste like mint for a week.

"Ah don' think Rogue's runnin' the show anymore." Gambit said, holding his staff in a defensive position.

Logan struggled to stand up, occasional jolts running up and down his spine. Storm grabbed her head and bent over in pain if her whimpering was anything to go by.

Logan saw his chance. "Fight it Rogue!" He called out.

Her body transformed back to her own but she didn't look any more calm. Her anxiety was nearly tangible. "Come on Rogue, get control!" He shouted and stood up.

She didn't look up at him, only clutched her head harder. His advanced hearing picked up her muttering, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

He held up a hand to Creed and Gambit as he moved forward, signaling to them to stay behind while he moved forward. That plan was shot to shit when some sort of space ship decided to appear between them.

He could feel both men come forward ready to attack whatever little green men that got off that ship. Instead of Martians, the ship opened up to reveal mutants, their teammates. Where the hell did they get a space ship that could jump thousands of miles like that?

Logan saw Gambit move over to keep Rogue in his sights and for now he would let him. But if he caught scent of anything suspicious coming off Gambit then he would happily pluck those freaky little eyes out of his hormonal driven head.

Magneto brought himself and Charles off the ship using his control over the magnetic fields. "Did you manage to stop Mesmero in time?" Magneto asked, glancing over to Mesmero who was still passed out and bleeding.

It was at the time that Logan glanced over, when he saw Gambit running toward the mouth of the cave, that a force rocked through the cave sending them all toppling to the ground and debris falling from the ceiling on top of them. The ship rocked sending some of the students and Brotherhood boys falling to the ground.

"It's Rogue!" He shouted out above the chaos. "something's wrong with her!"

A puff of black smoke later and a false Nightcrawler on top of the space ship transformed into a man he never wanted to see again.

"Logan, buddy!" Came the easy drawl of Deadpool. When the hell had she come across that lunatic? "I've missed you, no one calls me 'bub' anymore." *

"Shake it off Rogue!"

"That's Rogue!" Came several voices.

The Deadpool imitation pulled a gun out and twirled it around his finger like an expert. "Rogue's got more voices in her head than me!" He exclaimed. "She is one hot whack-a-doodle. Too bad she left me and Weasel, this would have been fun in person."

Logan glanced over to Charles whose eyes were closed in concentration. Others were looking around uncertainly though he smirked when he saw Creed eyeing Deadpool uneasily. The real Deadpool was no joke with a healing factor faster than his own and a crazy kamakazi attitude, he could be a real threat when properly motivated.

"She's absorbed too many psyches in the last two days. They are attempting to take over control of her body." He explained.

"It's like a psycho ward decided to riot!" Deadpool elaborated and aimed a shot right between Creed's eyes. "Bang!" Deadpool pulled the gun back to inspect it. "That sucks."

"Give Rogue back her body, Deadpool!" Logan shouted to the crazy man inhabiting the body of a teenage girl.

Deadpool glanced up. "Alright, keep your hair on, this is her story after all." Over the years Logan had learned to ignore such strange comments.

"Wait!" The Professor called and Logan glanced back to him. "There's another psyche fighting for control, it's more compete than the others."

"So, Rogue's fighting for control?" Cyclopes asked hopefully, unsure of what action to take against his teammate. In fact, everyone wasn't sure how to proceed with her so they all stood around the back of the cave.

"No, it is the psyche of another." Xavier said, finally opening his eyes only to trade a meaningful look with Beast.

Those two knew something and he was going to find out what as soon as they had calmed Rogue down.

"Like, who is she?" Shadowcat asked causing him to turn his attention back to Rogue.

The psyche that had control now was one he didn't recognize. The woman was taller than average with long flowing blond hair. She was wearing some type of leotard with a lightning bolt on it and long thigh high boots. She was frowning down at them all with narrowed eyes under her eye mask.

"Where is Rogue?" Xavier asked the blond chick.

She snorted. "Rogue's not here right now." She sneered down at them all and turned on her heel. Then, she lifted into the air and with the force of a rocket zoomed out of the cave and into the frigid air of Tibet.

He rounded on Hank and Xavier. "What the hell is going on and who was that?" He demanded of the two egg heads.

"I'm afraid we have promised Rogue that we would not reveal her secrets Logan." Xavier said with a grim frown.

A couple of feet to his side, Creed gave a hearty and cruel chuckle. "That was Carol Danvers and Rogue killed her last year." He said with a wicked glint in his eye. "Rogue absorbed every last bit of that nosey bitch."

Logan opened his mouth to say something nasty to the over grown big foot when Magneto cut him off. "Mystique has had you track Rogue several times before, correct?" He asked. Sabertooth nodded. "Where would she go?"

Sabertooth looked away. "She's got friends that can hide her." He said looking displeased at the very notion. "The three times I managed to find her she was with Deadpool, Tony Stark, Hulk and Nick Fury. If she really want's to hide than it's going to be hard trying to find her."

"And how do you know all this? Why would Mystique want yo to track her?" Logan demanded, stomping over and shoving himself right up in Sabertooth's face.

Creed just smirked down at him. "Mystique is her mother, runt." He snarled and pushed him back.

Logan unsheathed his claws, ready for a much-needed fight.

"Enough Logan." Xavier commanded.

Logan retracted his claws but didn't turn from his glaring match with Creed.

"It seems we will have to use other ways of tracking her." Magneto said.

"Yes, I will use Cerebro."

"You do that. In the mean time, I will have Gambit use his resources to find her while the rest of my team returns to Egypt to find a way to permanently seal Apocalypse."

This did cause Logan to tear his searing gaze away from Creed. "Over my dead body that kid is tracking Rogue down." He snarled in the direction of Gambit. "I smell the lust coming off you in waves, you just stay the hell away from her."

Most men would have faltered under Wolverine's glare, this cocky little son of a bitch actually smirked at him. "Can ya blame me?" He taunted. "Did ya see those legs?"

His claws were back out. Unfortunately he couldn't move, and if the tingeling sensation resonating in his bones was any indication than Magneto was the one responsible for holding him back.

"Gambit will remain completely professional." Magneto said though it was clear that it was actually a thinly veiled threat to Gambit.

"At the moment, it is the only option we have Logan." Xavier said. "Rogue is the only thing standing between Apocalypse and the rest of the world. She must be protected at all costs."

Logan gave another snarl before retracting his claws. He didn't like any of this one bit.

A/N

* 10 points to those who know what that's from!

I hope you enjoyed this new chapter with its changes. Tell me what you think!


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